Anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins are associated with a number of diseases. There is therefore an existing need in the therapeutic arts for compounds which inhibit the activity of anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins.
Overexpression of Bcl-2 proteins correlates with resistance to chemotherapy, clinical outcome, disease progression, overall prognosis or a combination thereof in various cancers and disorders of the immune system.
Involvement of Bcl-2 proteins in bladder cancer, brain cancer, breast cancer, bone marrow cancer, cervical cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer, hepatocellular cancer, lymphoblastic leukemia, follicular lymphoma, lymphoid malignancies of T-cell or B-cell origin, melanoma, myelogenous leukemia, myeloma, oral cancer, ovarian cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, prostate cancer, small cell lung cancer, spleen cancer, and the like is described in commonly-owned PCT US 2004/36770, published as WO 2005/049593, and PCT US 2004/37911, published as WO 2005/024636.
Involvement of Bcl-2 proteins in immune and autoimmune diseases is described in Current Allergy and Asthma Reports 2003, 3, 378-384; British Journal of Haematology 2000, 110(3), 584-90; Blood 2000, 95(4), 1283-92; and New England Journal of Medicine 2004, 351(14), 1409-1418. Involvement of Bcl-2 proteins in arthritis is disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/988,479. Involvement of Bcl-2 proteins in bone marrow transplant rejection is disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/941,196.
Solubility influences the oral absorption of pharmaceuticals. Drugs with poor dissolution rates are associated with low and variable bioavailability, higher potential for food effects, and inability to deliver high doses for toxicity studies, and difficulty in developing parenteral formulations. Therefore, increasing the solubility of compounds may alleviate these risks associated with low solubility and, moreover, constitute an advantage.